Monday, April 29, 2013

Would you want to be hired as the "ugly friend", an undercover role beside a French aristocrat for the sake of making her look more beautiful to possible suitors?

Maude Pichon, a runaway from Brittany avoiding a lurid arranged marriage, had no other choice but to fall prey to being the "average-looking friend" next to Isabelle, a girl desperately in need of a husband in order to soothe the fretting heart of her social climbing mother, the countess.

Things swirl into action as she meets the rest of the "Repoussoirs" in the agency, normal to ugly looking girls in need of jobs and willing to be drab for the sake of a decent income and attending social gatherings, balls, operas, and other highly exclusive festivities. Dukes with dreamy gazes, artists with scruffy composures, and elegant gatherings encompass Maude's world as she attempts to keep her identity a secret from Isabelle, who she was hired to be "ugly" next to. But at the turn of the century with advancing technologies, gorgeous fashion, and the construction of the Eiffel Tower in Belle Epoque Paris, secrets don't stay secrets for long. And everyone knows it.

I really enjoyed the simplicity of Belle Epoque! It was an easy read and truly captured the perfectionism of the beauty era in Paris, France. Historical fiction is sure to be a rising genre and Elizabeth Ross does not fall short of the intriguing stories intertwined with flowing dresses and forbidden glances! Ross made me ponder the value society puts on beauty and the inner-motives of friendships. She opened my eyes to the necessity of not only genuine feelings in relationships, but following one's own dreams as opposed to what others want you to do. I recommend this novel to anyone searching for a quick, Euro-historical read displaying strong, compelling, and developed characters with classic plot twists!

Sunday, April 28, 2013

This is The Luxe series by Anna Godbersen, within the gloriously prestigious setting of large penthouse suites and unctuous gala events. I followed the daughters of dwindling wealth, Diana and Elizabeth Holland. Diana, a sixteen-year-old, raven-haired, sultry-eyed beauty is the adventurous, wild kind. Elizabeth Holland, the eldest of the Holland sister duo, is the obedient and compliant one with many forbidden secrets rummaging beneath the iron of her skirt. Henry Schoonmaker, the rebellious son of a multi-million dollar empire constructed by his lineage, is looking for a little more danger than society is willing to allow him to handle. Penelope Hayes is the overly extravagant eighteen-year-old immodestly searching for the love of Henry in which she had almost grasped. Carolina Broud, planning her exposure into legitimate upper class society and will do what ever it take to get her name in papers even though the only thing she has to her title is being a house girl with her sister, Claire, for the Holland family.

And then there's society: the most scrutinizing and all-ears form of gossip and midnight chatter. Throughout the adventurous course of the series, these characters of the Luxe series embrace the whispers, the getaways, the glamorous balls, and ever-watchful eyes of people hoping to catch the next big talk of the city. With crazy, unimaginable plot twists and on-your-feet wit of these sporadic characters, I was always entertained! Godbersen kept me compelled by the angelic atmospheres, the perfectionist smiles, and innocent public personas, in conjunction with the scandalous escapades and dramatics occurring behind closed doors.

Pick this series up before Josh Schwartz, creator of the wildly successful Gossip Girl TV show takes the Luxe and puts it on the screen!

In the deep crevices of the chaotic cities of Hell, sixteen-year-old pale beauty Daphne, daughter of the most infamous demons Lucifer and Lilith, suddenly sparks a desire to be more than her Pandemonium world. The spontaneity of her thoughts leads her on a roller coaster adventure when her soul-saving brother, Obie, has vanished on Earth.

Worried he might be in danger because of a lethal Earth warden and intrigued by the mysterious boy, Truman, whom Obie has saved, Daphne embarks on an enticing yet catastrophic journey through differing worlds. And which will she choose? Life or death? Earth or hell?

I really enjoyed this book! It was a quick read that I devoured without thinking! Brenna Yovanoff gives an avant garde angle on the protagonist with her dark and brooding ancestry, while putting in her midst a troubled, confused, and helplessly adorable guy, Truman. Somehow his dreams hold the key to finding her earth-lost brother. And he also might hold the key to her stale, yearning heart. The Space Between never lost my interest! Wild and absorbing, I'd follow this story line to the ends of the…earth?